Federal, state money aimed at independent living

Dana Heupel

Thursday

May 17, 2007 at 12:01 AMMay 17, 2007 at 5:00 PM

The state has received notice that the federal government will supply $55.7 million over the next five years to help people move from nursing homes, state-operated institutions and other long-term-care facilities back into their communities. State government will provide an extra $23.8 million.

By DANA HEUPEL

STATE CAPITOL BUREAU

SPRINGFIELD -- Donna Biggs moved out of a nursing home Wednesday and into her own apartment in Springfield.

The 49-year-old former Chatham resident suffered a stroke last June and has been in St. John's Hospital and then Capitol Care Center ever since. But a state program is helping her return to a more comfortable and natural environment.

"It's great," she said, as her family helped her pack last-minute items.

Her good fortune might be multiplied 3,500 times over the next five years because of $79.5 million in new federal and state funding announced Wednesday.

The state received notice that the federal government will supply $55.7 million over the next five years to help people like Briggs move from nursing homes, state-operated institutions and other long-term-care facilities back into their communities. State government will provide an extra $23.8 million.

The initiative is called "Money Follows the Person" and will help about 3,500 Illinoisans who suffer from physical, mental or developmental disabilities cover one-time expenses such as paying the first month's rent or building a ramp for wheelchairs, said Theresa Eagleson Wyatt, an administrator with the Illinois Department of Healthcare and Family Services.

HFS applied for the new federal Medicaid money, and Illinois was one of 13 states to receive funding in the most-recent awards. It will help state agencies build on existing programs, such as the one helping Biggs, Wyatt said.

In Biggs' case, the state and federal funds will pay for a caregiver who will live with her in the Springfield apartment for a year, "doing everything I can't do," Biggs said.

"I'm going to be practicing and trying to do more," she said. "Hopefully, in a year, we'll be able to switch."

The Illinois Division of Rehabilitation Services now can serve only about 130 people a year, Wyatt said. With the new money, that number will nearly triple by the end of the five-year "demonstration program." Other agencies, such as the Divisions of Mental Health and Developmental Disabilities, the Department on Aging and the Illinois Housing Development Authority, also will participate, she said.

To qualify, a person must have been in a long-term-care facility or state-operated institution for at least six months, Wyatt said. The state and federal money can help them for the first year after they move out, she said.

"Thousands of people in Illinois are in need of long-term care, but often, the only place they can find that care is in a nursing home," Gov. Rod Blagojevich said in a news release announcing the federal award. "This money will allow more people to get the care they need in the comfort of their own homes or in a community residence."

Briggs said Wednesday she was looking forward to doing just that.

"I am very happy to be moving and that there is an opportunity to move. It's really something," she said.